ashkale

Am not a fan of this either so no need thumb me down, but the rhetoric, wealthy,highvalue, rich is loud and clear. These guys are in a hurry to line their pockets and foreigners are an easy target.

I do suspect they are going to go after the 800k retiree segment this time, probably introduction of a private agency and much higher deposit requirements.

The chain hotels in Thailand are outrageously priced. It would seem they all have colluded to fix prices as obviously no regulatory or oversight exists!

Its quite simple, the tourists and their dollars have found places which offer much better value. Thailands larger cities in the rush to make back lost monies have outpriced themselves post Covid!

Chinese economy has been in doldrums for months now. The people simply dont have the disposable cash nor the confidence in future to spend in ever pricier Thailand. I found prices in Bangkok comparable to those in secondary cities in Korea and Japan, and then the push fr domestic tourism by the Chinese gov. Not looking good for Thailand for sure.

This seems to be targetted at domestic flights to benefit the airport drink concessionary or inflight sales.

Wonder how they handle passengers with multiple passports

Egates are in the center departure area. Much much faster and nicer experience. And you dont get a stamp. The arrivals egate planned for non-citizens has been postponed to "sometime in the future"..was supposed to start in December 2024.. The news snippet is most likely for arrivals.

I dont unserstand the need to stamp resident permits on passports, just issue a nonCitizen ID card to all long term residents like most of the "first" world. Singapore a decade ago got rid of it and now the visa/rep transfers are a click away from the comfort of your home! There has to be a better way than this amount of unproductive use of time.

So I managed to exhaust the pages of my passport and did the LTR visa transfer to the new passport the other day. Emailed LTR Visa Unit to get the requirements and they send me as below- fairly painless except no special window for LTR holders so had the mandatory 3 hours queuing the window 14/15. Also the new stamps have already taken up 3 pages of the new passport! Please note that no appointment is required to transfer your LTR Visa to a new passport. You may visit us during working hours, any time before 3:30 PM. To complete the visa transfer process, kindly follow these steps: 1. Please visit the Immigration One Stop Service Center for Visa and Work Permit (OSS). You don't need to appear in person; instead, you can authorize a representative or someone you know to bring your passports for the visa transfer. There is no additional fee for this service. 2. Bring the following documents: - Original former and new passports - Transfer stamp to new passport form, download here: https://bangkok.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Transfer-Stamp-to-New-Passport-Form.pdf - Certificate of visa transfer from your embassy (Your passport will require this document, when getting a new passport, please make sure to request for passport transfer certificate as well) - Copies of former and new passports with your photo - Copy of the last arrival stamp in your passport - Copy of the LTR Visa stamp in your passport - Copy of the last extended visa in your passport - Copy of T.M. 6 Card (if applicable) - Notification letter of qualification endorsement addressed to the Immigration Bureau (found within your LTR Visa account under the check status tab) - 1-Year notification card (if applicable) Please ensure that you transfer the visa before your current passport expires. If not, the LTR visa will become invalid and unusable.

Suspect it will be a digital TM6 and probably have a "small" fee each time you apply🙂

I suspect it will be done by end of the year for all passports.

There seems to be rush everywhere to get rid of manned immigration...suppose big data is super happy!

Has this been resolved yet or they simply shuttered the APC and added more personnel? I really don't need anymore stamps especially when am not a tourist here!

Quite normal for Chinese gangs operating on this route, learned hard way- Bkk-colombo on Sri Lankan morning flight. Always always keep your valuables on person!